


Patient #1002

by TahnosTisiphone



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: AU, Asylums, Dark Comedy, Eventual Fluff, F/M, Healing, Hospitals, Humor, Romance, amorra - Freeform, crazy korra, orphan!korra
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-19
Updated: 2015-04-18
Packaged: 2017-11-26 02:37:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 19,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/645618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TahnosTisiphone/pseuds/TahnosTisiphone
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In one world, Korra is suffering from insanity, under the care of Dr. Noatak. She escapes this reality by falling into a delusional world in which she is the Avatar… an Avatar that is shocked to find that her former enemy is alive. Korra feels compelled to nurse the former Equalist leader back to health... but at what cost? Meanwhile, Dr. Noatak finds himself growing increasingly attached to his young patient.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Patient #1002**

Premise: In the real world, Korra is suffering from insanity, under the care of Dr. Noatak. She escapes this reality by falling into a delusional world in which she is the Avatar… an Avatar that is shocked to find that her former enemy is alive. This is an Amon x Korra (Amorra) fic.

The Legend of Korra and Avatar: The Last Airbender belong to Bryke; I own nothing.

Takes place after Book 1. Passages in _italics_ take place in the _hospital;_ all other action is in the world of Republic City.

* * *

_The sound of the soles of his shoes against the cool, white tile beneath them almost made Dr. Noatak wince with each step. It was too early; the lights were too bright. He had not gotten enough sleep the night before due to his flight running late._

_'The morning is evil, indeed,' he thought._

_Focusing on the painful noise of his footsteps had almost caused him to miss his destination. He halted abruptly in front of the door, blinking at the room number, making sure it matched the number printed on the sheet on his clipboard. Of course it was the same; it was not like a week away would change the location of this room in the hospital. With his clipboard held firmly, and a slight adjustment to his coat, he entered his PIN into the dial beside the door. Hearing the affirming beep and the click of the lock being released, he turned the handle and opened the door._

_If it were possible, the room that Dr. Noatak walked into was even brighter than the hallway. He squinted against the lights, waiting for his eyes to adjust. He took in the room- a bed, a chair, a sink with a cup sitting on top of it. There had once been a mirror above the sink, but the staff had found it necessary to remove it soon after the patient's arrival; well, remove what was left of it. The frequently-repainted white walls of the room told no stories of the events that transpired here. Dr. Noatak noticed that a new coat of paint had been applied during his absence._

_Patient #1002 was still sleeping, but his arrival had caused her to begin to wake. Brown limbs twisted in sterile white sheets as her head rose from the pillow, her dark brown hair splayed out around her. She blinked against the light, much as Dr. Noatak had done just a few moments before. Her eyes fell onto him, empty until they gradually found focus. Recognizing and registering the doctor's presence, the patient jolted back and let out a hiss._

_"Hello, Korra. How have you been?" Dr. Noatak pulled the chair over next to the bed, sitting on it without taking his eyes off of the patient._

_"Amon! What are you doing here? You died!" Her face twisted up in a mix of anger and confusion._

_"Korra, I told you- It's Dr. Noatak, and I had a conference to attend. Not to mention that it was probably for the best, considering how our session ended the last time I saw you."_

_"I had to put an end to your horrible plans!"_

_"You tried to push me out the window. It wasn't the best way to part."_

_"You were bloodbending Mako."_

_"There is no Mako."_

_Korra choked out a high-pitched sob and curled into the fetal position, getting tangled in the sheets once more as she drew her arms around her legs. "There is a Mako- and he loves me! He chose me!" She twisted her head to bury it in her pillow._

_Dr. Noatak sat and watched. He briefly contemplated returning her stuffed shark to her, the toy named "Mako" that she had developed an unhealthy attachment towards. He decided that it was best not to. The hospital staff had decided it would be beneficial to take it from her when a nurse had come in one morning and had found it hanging from the overhead light by the red scarf around its neck. "He didn't want me," Korra had said. "He chose Asami." Asami - Korra's childhood friend who had visited only once; her friend who had called the toy "cute" and had given it a hug, not knowing that Korra would have an adverse reaction._

_Dr. Noatak momentarily turned his attention to his clipboard. He needed to change her dosage again. "Korra, I'm going to up your medication. This may make you more tired than you have been, but I believe there will be positive results. Korra? Are you listening?"_

_The teenage girl remained with her face buried, continuing her mutterings about Mako's love for her. She was not in the present anymore, Dr. Noatak could see. She had gone into that delusional world of hers, the one in which she insisted that she was the entity known as "the Avatar."_

_Dr. Noatak took a pen from his pocket and prepared himself for notes._

* * *

The cool breeze bit into Korra's cheeks as she took her morning stroll. This was her third walk this week; something in her still felt restless. Amon's lie had been revealed more than a week and a half ago, with most of his "revolution" crumpling with it. The debris of the boat he had escaped in with Tarrlok had been found not long after, along with the gory remains of a few fingers and singed, ripped apart flesh. It had been a little less than a week since Korra had realized the Avatar State; she had since been torn between returning bending to those unfortunate enough to have been captured by Amon, and fighting off the remaining Equalist cells that insisted on continuing the fight, despite the fact that they no longer had a leader under whom they could unify. The Equalists didn't even have their Lieutenant – Amon had snapped his neck that day. Korra made a personal vow to never let such a man rise to any sort of power again.

She had been shocked to learn of Amon and Tarrlok's fate. It was difficult to differentiate exactly what had occurred to make the boat explode - nothing was known other than that the source had been electrical. She sighed, looking out across Yue Bay. Some things would never be known. Korra was not Kyoshi – she did not take satisfaction in the demise of her enemies. If anything, she felt sadness for the Northern Water Tribe brothers. They had not asked for their father to introduce them to the darkness of bloodbending. As seen with Tarrlok, once you know how to do something such as bloodbend, you do not forget it – especially in perceived desperate situations. Perhaps, if they had lived, they could have been reformed... but why dwell on "what ifs?" With Amon gone, she felt as if she had little to be continuously be in fear of... which made her afraid. It was as if the absence of an object towards which she could direct her fear was in itself something that she feared.

Korra reached up and rubbed one of her earlobes; the morning cool was causing it to hurt. Her gaze fell on the dark shape of a tiger-seal, still and basking in the sun on the opposite end of the shore. Wait a second- she's only ever seen tiger-seals at home, in the Southern Water Tribe. What was one doing here? She squinted, shielding her eyes against the harsh morning sun with her hand. Perhaps it wasn't a tiger-seal, perhaps it was some other dark animal that – red. Red on the sand. Korra started to run, adrenaline picking up in her gut. The feeling of dread increased as she ran toward the shape and it began to take on form. Hair. Fingers. Human. She scratched the stray hairs out of her eyes as she picked up her pace. Maybe should could still help him. She began to bend the air around her, propelling herself forward. She was almost there. Good, he was moving. He was rolling over, slowly. He was facing her. Korra stopped dead. Sand flew up around her as her feet skidded. She knew this face. Hell, she KNEW this face. Despite having only seen it for a matter of seconds, she knew this man by his face. A face she had never thought, never hoped to see again. This man, lying in a pool of his own blood on the shore of Air Temple Island, was Amon.

* * *

_Withdrawing the needle from her arm, Dr. Noatak looked down at Patient #1002. Placing his fingers on the pulse on her wrist, he felt as she began to calm. Her eyes found focus, and met with his._

_"Amon." She almost spat the name._

_"Must I keep telling you that my name is Dr. Noatak?" He placed the syringe in the front pocket of his coat. He would need to remember to sterilize it later._

_"You told me. You said you were Amon." Her voice was raspy, her eyes coming in and out of focus._

_Dr. Noatak sighed. "When you were introduced to my care, I told you that I was just 'a man,' and that I would do my best to help you with no promises of success. You are very much invested in this world that you have created in your grief." He tried to look her in the eye once more, but she was gone._

_"You're Amon... Amon... Amon was dead, but now..." She was staring out at the wall, her fingers making winding motions in her sheets. "Can a man with a face be Amon...? Or is it something else?" She continued to mutter, and Dr. Noatak sat back down as he turned to a new page on his clipboard._

* * *

"Amon?" Korra cautiously approached the wounded man before her. He responded with a groan. She bent down and nudged his shoulder, drawing her hand back quickly. He failed to move. His eyes were half open, not staring at anything, but the his clenched jaw showed him to be in pain. She needed to find the wound from which the blood on the sand had come. Unceremoniously, she poked him on his side with her finger, earning a gurgled and guttural growl in response. Her finger came back slick with blood. Suspicions confirmed, she bent water out of the bay, aiming to close up his wound enough to move him elsewhere.

Amon sputtered, his lips moving in an attempt to make words. Korra leaned in closer, less afraid now that she realized he was completely incapable of moving quickly.

"Yes? I'm listening."

"The wound-," he gasped, coughing a bit. "It opened when-," another cough, "-when I dragged myself on shore." He had barely gotten the final word out when he broke down in a coughing fit. Korra began to work faster; the heaving of his chest with his coughs was causing his blood to flow more quickly from his side. She doubted that he had any idea who she was yet – but would he be accepting her help, if he did?

Why was she helping him? She hadn't even thought to question it. Another human was in dire need of help, and the responsibility to save him had fallen on her. That was all. She had to overlook the fact that this was Amon; she had to ignore the fact that this was the man who had once filled her nightmares with so much terror that she would wake up and not know that she had been crying until a scream ripped itself from her throat and she felt the hot wetness of the tears on her face. That couldn't matter now.

There. That should do it. Korra reached over and took Amon's face in her hands, making sure that his eyes made contact with her own.

"I'm going to move you now. It will hurt, and your side is only healed temporarily, but I need to get you someplace warm and off this beach. Do you understand?" She spoke slowly and loudly. Amon grunted in understanding.

Korra gently set his head back down before crouching next to him, aligning her shoulders with his. She reached beneath him and pulled his left arm over her shoulder, slowly standing. Spirits, he was heavy. She began to walk him up to the Temple, using airbending to help support the weight of his body. Korra knew of a place inside to take him. Many of the rooms on Air Temple Island were not in use; all she had to do was drag him there without being seen.

But why was she so anxious to avoid being seen? If Amon was back, shouldn't she be desperate to try to tell someone? For some reason, she had no desire to alert anyone. Frankly, she didn't quite know what she was doing, herself. She needed to heal him, true, but then...? She paused behind a wall as two White Lotus sentries walked past, either groggy from waking up or groggy from finishing their late night shift. Once their footsteps had faded, Korra darted inside and sped first down one hallway, then another, using airbending to mute her footsteps. She smiled to herself – just a bit over a week, and she was well on her way to completely mastering the art. A third hallway. A fourth. Arriving at a fifth hallway, Korra swept them halfway down before kicking open a door in the middle.

The room was sparse, a little bit dusty. Morning light streamed in through the window onto the small bed, on which Korra placed the wounded man. She turned and locked the door from the inside. Turning back to Amon, she frowned to see his heavy breathing from the exertion of being moved. She wiped the perspiration from his brow with her pelt; it needed washing, anyway. Whipping water out of a flask on her belt, she set out to work on his major wounds. His side had remained intact, but it still needed a much deeper healing. She briefly mused on the irony of using bending to save Amon, but he had yet to object.

Two hours later, Korra was exhausted. Putting the water away, she collapsed into the hard wooden chair across from the bed. She stared at Amon, watching his chest rise and fall evenly. He had fallen asleep at some point during her ministrations. How had it come to this? How had her enemy become her patient? She set her head back and closed her eyes. No one would come looking for her today. Mako and Bolin were seeing what could be done to repair the Arena. Asami was trying to untangle the web of lies that her father had left behind so that she could properly run the business. Korra laughed to herself – she had requested that Tenzin give her the day off because she was tired. Yes, no one would miss her if she wasn't around for a few hours, today...

* * *

_Dr. Noatak closed his pen. Patient #1002 had fallen asleep; her delusions were on hold, for now. There was a soft knock on the door before it opened._

_"You have poor timing, Dr. Tenzin. She just fell asleep," Dr. Noatak addressed the his coworker._

_"Ah, well, sometimes the best therapy is the resting of the mind," Dr. Tenzin scratched the back of his hairless head. "How is she doing?"_

_"She thinks that I died when I went to the conference."_

_"Oh?"_

_"Along with my brother, Tarrlok." Dr. Noatak stood up, pushing the chair back against the wall. Dr. Tenzin would not be needing it._

_"Her godfather? And how, exactly, did she kill you off?"_

_Dr. Noatak pressed his lips together in a firm line before answering. "Boat explosion."_

_The therapist's eyes went wide. "Oh, god - just like her parents..."_

_Dr. Noatak nodded. "She's definitely drawing from that... except her parents were in a motor-boat accident. In her delusion, she implies that Tarrlok blew us both up. She's revised her fantasy, now that she knows I'm alive. She's likely to revise it again once she discovers that Tarrlok is alive, as well."_

_"Good lord... she's suffering. Has she killed anyone else off?"_

_"Lewis. In her mental world, he was my Lieutenant."_

_"Your intern?"_

_"Yes. I don't know how I will break the news to him." Dr. Noatak allowed a small smile._

_"Break it to him gently. If he needs to talk to someone about it, he knows where to find me." Dr. Tenzin chuckled as the two walked out of the room, allowing the door to click shut behind them._

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

_Italics_ for Hospital; Plain text for Republic City. A little crack-y. Warning for suicide attempt reference. Korra x Amon.

* * *

Korra woke with a jolt. How long had she been out? She jerked her head up, looking intently at the man in the bed across from her. Amon's breath rose and fell in a steady rhythm, occasionally catching but otherwise consistent. Even with the healing treatment that she had given him, he wasn't going to be moving anytime soon. She stood up and stretched, wincing a bit at the soreness in her neck that had resulted from her falling asleep with her head tilted forward.

She crept out of the room and wound down the hallways. From the amount of light streaming through the windows, Korra guessed that it was around the middle of the afternoon. Perhaps she would meet up with Chief Beifong. She had only managed to restore bending to a third of the people who had been stripped of it. The process was draining and exhausting, both mentally and physically, on her part, but there was reward in seeing the sunken faces of the victims transformed into expressions of relief and elation. She remembered her own miserable state when she had lost her bending for a week; these people had been without for much longer. Korra wanted to finish this as quickly as possible.

* * *

_Dr. Noatak almost ran into Dr. Lin as he quickly closed the door of Patient #5489's room. Despite the merchandiser's claims that these doors were "soundproof," he could still hear cackling coming from within._

_"Someone's as rambunctious as usual," Dr. Lin commented._

_Dr. Noatak nodded. "No matter how often I see her, I am always struck by terror. And she gets worse with each different medication I give her."_

_Shaking her head, Dr. Lin sighed. "Such a sad case. I'm glad I caught you – I'm on my way to Patient #1002, and wanted to know her status."_

_"She was asleep when I left the room about two hours ago. She hasn't spent much time in reality, but is much less animated than she usually is." He cocked an eyebrow at the steel-haired doctor. "Physical therapy time?"_

_"I'm just taking her for a walk around the outdoor enclosure today. Believe it or not, she does need more physical activity than throwing chairs at you." Her mouth hinted at a smile before returning to its default stern expression. "I'll be off then." With a curt nod, Dr. Lin continued on her way._

_Rolling his eyes, Dr. Noatak looked down on his clipboard. He needed to escort Patient #6413 to the nurse's station for testing. He let his breath out in a long sigh. He hated dealing with Tahno._

* * *

The police station was buzzing with activity. Republic City was still recovering from (and in some parts, still fighting) the Equalist takeover. Chief Beifong handed Korra a stack of papers.

"You're making house calls."

"Excuse me?" Korra blinked at the chief of police. The past two times that she had come in to restore bending, people had been lined up at the station, waiting for her.

"I sent everyone who came in to see you home. You said you were taking the day off." Chief Beifong looked down her nose at Korra. Their relationship might be warmer than it had originally been, but Chief Beifong remained a stern figure of authority who didn't accept nonsense from anyone.

Korra nodded and made her way out of the station. "Ready to do some running, Naga?" She addressed the polar bear dog, stroking her head as she untied her from the lamppost. Naga responded with an affirming guttural noise. "Let's go, girl!" Korra swung herself up onto Naga, speeding off to the first address.

Korra must have restored bending to at least thirty people before she began to get tired.

"Thanks, Korra..." Ming scratched the back of his head as he stood up. He and Korra flinched as Shaozu set loose a large fireball over their heads from his location inside the apartment. Shaozu let out a cheer.

"Yeah!"

Ming rolled his eyes, looking back to Korra. "No lingering hard feelings about the Pro-Bending Championship? We promise not to cheat if we ever face you guys, again." He gave her an awkward grin.

"It's no problem. I'll probably be too busy to Pro-Bend again, but I'll be sure to cheer for you if you get back out there... as long as you keep to your promise not to cheat." She hopped back on to Naga. "Tahno not here?"

Ming shifted awkwardly. Grateful as he was for having his bending returned, Korra could tell that their previous rivalry was keeping things a bit uncomfortable. "Nah, he doesn't live with us. He's always liked his privacy, if you know what I mean..."

Korra nodded as she flipped to the next page in her pile. Aha. "See you around, Ming." She signaled Naga to take off.

Stepping back into his apartment, Ming gave her a small salute. "Yeah..."

Tahno's apartment wasn't far away, albeit in a somewhat nicer area. Korra hopped off of Naga, checking the apartment listing with the listing on the page. "Apartment #6413, Tahno," she read aloud, before raising her fist and beating on the door. Hearing a murmuring sound inside, Korra pounded harder.

"Spirits! I said I was coming, dammit!" The door was yanked open, revealing a half-naked Tahno. His hair was dripping; he must have just stepped out of the shower. Droplets of water glistened on his bare chest. "Uh-vatar?" His irked expression shifted to a look of surprise and curiosity.

Korra began to back away. "I'm sorry, if this is a bad time..."

"No, no," Tahno shook his head. "Just a second." He disappeared for a few moments, to reappear with a black shirt that he was quickly buttoning up. "Do you want to come in?"

"No, I'm just here to give you something." Korra smirked at him. He was looking much better than when she had last seen him, at the police station.

"Oh?" He raised an eyebrow.

"All you have to do is kneel."

"Hmm?"

"On your knees, pretty boy."

"Sounds kinky."

"I could leave."

"Alright, alright." Tahno gave her a mischievous grin before kneeling down in front of Korra. "I looked for you at the police station this morning; Chief Beifong said that you were taking the day off."

"I took the morning off." Korra placed her thumb in the center of Tahno's forehead and began to concentrate. "This might feel strange." She focused the energy, feeling it pour forth.

Tahno's grin continued to grow wider. Standing up, he pulled Korra against him in an embrace. "Thanks Uh-vatar." He released her and took a step back. With a flick of his wrist, he reshaped his hair using the water still in it, returning it to its former glory. "Now, about those private lessons..."

"Not a chance, pretty boy," Korra laughed as she made her way back to Naga.

"You say that now," Tahno continued to grin, leaning against his doorframe. "Just know that I keep to the rare committed relationships that I find myself in."

Korra snapped back around, prepared to deliver a biting response, to find that he had already vanished behind his door.

* * *

_"Dr. Noatak?" the patient stuck his lower lip out, furrowing his brow into a glare._

_"Yes, Tahno?" Dr. Noatak swiftly switched tubes, beginning to fill up Patient #6413's second vial of blood._

_"My hair is flat."_

_"Excuse me?"_

_"My hair is flat, and no one has provided me with the adequate grooming supplies with which I can return it to its former body, no matter how many times I request it."_

_Dr. Noatak was momentarily tempted to remove the needle from the patient's arm and drive it into his own temple. If the nurse who customarily did tasks such as this hadn't been sick today, he wouldn't have to deal with this patient at all._

_"This is because," Dr. Noatak stated through gritted teeth, "when you were briefly allowed to be in possession of whatever you use on your hair, you tried to guzzle it in an attempt at suicide, knowing very well that whatever the makers put in those products would fuck you up!" The receptionist across the room looked up briefly and scowled._

_Patient #6413 blinked at Dr. Noatak. "I think that's very unprofessional language for you to use, Dr. Noatak." He quirked his head to the side. "And I wouldn't have been upset if my living conditions weren't so- OUCH!"_

_The vial filled, Dr. Noatak was anything but delicate in removing the needle from the patient's arm. Technically, he could get in trouble for that, but he was beyond caring. His boss knew better than to stick him with Tahno._

_A gasping Dr. Lin ran in. "Dr. Noatak! Have you seen Korra?"_

_"No. What happened? Is everything alright?"_

_"She ran off, suddenly. Everything was fine; she was off in her own little world, when suddenly she took off. Smart girl swiped my key card when she went. I had to wait for someone else to come along to open the door for me." Dr. Lin balanced herself against the counter of the nurse's station. Her breath was becoming more even. "I need to get back to searching. Keep an eye out?"_

_"Of course. I'll call you if anyone tracks her down."_

_With a nod, Dr. Lin ran off. Dr. Noatak had no doubt that she had already alerted as many security personnel as she could to help her search. Korra had a history of being slippery._

_At Korra's name, Tahno had perked up. "Korra? The Avatar?" he asked once Lin was gone._

_Dr. Noatak groaned inwardly. Patients #1002 and #6413 had come into contact with each other exactly twice, both for very brief periods of time that could not have spanned more than ten minutes if added together. Despite this general lack of interaction, Korra had drawn the impressionable Tahno into her delusional world, having convinced Tahno that he was a professional sports player of some sort before he, Dr. Noatak, had removed his ability from him. Because Tahno obviously didn't have enough problems with Dr. Noatak, as it was._

_A whir of caramel skin caught Dr. Noatak's eye as the rogue Patient #1002 ran into the room, sweeping papers off the counter with the air she displaced._

_"Tahno!" She was crying. "I've been looking for you!"_

_"Korra! You've missed me, then?" Korra ran up to Tahno as Dr. Noatak fumbled through his pockets, desperately searching for his cell-phone to call Dr. Lin._

_The hospital gown-clad girl was staring intensely into the boy's eyes when Dr. Noatak looked up, having found the phone. Suddenly, Korra jabbed her thumb to the center of Tahno's forehead, gave him a short nod, and took off once more down an adjoining hallway._

_"Korra! Come back here!" Dr. Noatak yelled in her direction. The phone was still ringing. Dammit, Lin! What the hell had just happened? He shifted his attention to Patient #6413, who was grinning in a way that made Dr. Noatak increasingly uneasy. The patient leaped out of the chair he had been sitting in, yelling at a cringe-worthy volume. Dr. Noatak's phone went to Dr. Lin's voicemail, and he ended the call. It was likely that someone had already alerted her, and Dr. Noatak now had a different problem to worry about._

_"The Avatar has returned my bending! Tahno's back, baby!" Patient #6413 proceeded to run over to the receptionist's bottle of water while she watched, perplexed. He stared at it intently for a few seconds, waving his arms in the air in fluid motions, before becoming frustrated - at which point he unceremoniously dumped the bottle's contents on the floor. He dropped the bottle and let out a cry of victory. "Yeah! I still got it!"_

_"Someone sedate him," Dr. Noatak instructed a passing nurse. "And make a note that patient #1002 is not to come into contact with any other patients, in the future."_

_The nurse nodded, pushing the button on a nearby call-board to request the security team that would subdue Tahno long enough for a sedating injection to be administered to his rear._

* * *

Korra was nearing the end of the stack of papers that Chief Beifong had handed her. There must have been about a hundred people listed, and she had about ten left. Her body was getting heavier and heavier; it was taking more and more effort on her part to return a person's bending. The anger that had been stirred up by Tahno's comment had fired her up enough to get through many of the people with ease- anger at Tahno, anger at Mako, anger at herself... anger at knowing that Tahno was right.

The person whose bending she had just returned, some earth bender whom she had never met before, grabbed her hand and shook it in thanks. She just smiled. How long had that one taken? Five minutes? Ten? Too long. She nodded at the earth bender, staggering on her way back to Naga.

She tried to hoist herself up, but found that she could no longer find the strength. "Naga..." Korra's vision was swimming. She tried to grasp on to Naga's pale fur as her legs gave out beneath her, only to feel it slip through her fingers. She could vaguely feel Naga pulling her up onto the polar bear dog's back, but everything had already gone black before Korra stopped feeling altogether.

* * *

_Dr. Noatak pushed in the PIN for Patient #1002's room for the second time that day. He had just received the call from Dr. Lin that the patient had been located and sedated before being brought back to her room. According to Lin, Tahno had not been the only patient to receive a finger to the forehead. Unlike Tahno, most other patients and staff had been momentarily confused before dismissing it. It could have been worse._

_Patient #1002 was sitting on her bed, staring at the wall across from her with her arms limp by her sides. She looked up as Dr. Noatak approached._

_"Amon."_

_"Dr. Noatak." He pulled the chair over and sat._

_"Your Water-Tribe name."_

_"Well, it is the name of a river in Alaska with Inuit origins, but I wouldn't call it 'Water-Tribe.'"_

_She scowled and looked down at her hands. Looking back up, she whimpered, "They put a needle in me."_

_"You ran away, Korra. They had to calm you down. I've given you injections many times without you becoming terribly upset."_

_Her eyes were beginning to get watery. "But not there." A tear slipped down her cheek, catching on her chin and hanging there until is dropped onto the top sheet of the bed beneath her. Dr. Noatak understood; her pride had been hurt. And hell, if Korra didn't have pride._

_"It's alright, now. And no one is going to stick you there again unless you run off." He had no idea what to do with a crying, humiliated Korra. Most of her tears in the past had been from tantrums and episodes in her delusions. He reached forward and gave her an awkward pat on the back, which she responded to by wrapping her arms around him in a hug, wiping her teary face on his shoulder._

_Shit. This wasn't his department. Hugs and feelings were for her sessions with Dr. Tenzin. Dr. Noatak's job consisted of checking up on her progress and tracking the effects of the medications he administered to her. He gently pushed against her shoulders, trying to get her off._

_"Korra, we need to talk about why you ran off and what you did."_

_"No."_

_"Korra, you can't go around poking everyone in the forehead."_

_She jerked back and glared at him; her fighting spirit returned."I had to give them all their bending back."_

_"Korra, again- there's no such thing as bending."_

_"Not if you would have anything to do about it." Korra stuck out her bottom lip in defiance._

_Dr. Noatak sighed and buried his face in his hands. It was only noon. Today was going to be a long day._

* * *

Consciousness was slow in returning. Korra woke up to find herself in her own bed, back on Air Temple Island. She could smell something savory, and felt her stomach gurgle in response. She twisted her head to find a bowl of cooling soup on the bedside table. She hadn't eaten much today... but she knew someone who probably needed it more. Crawling out from beneath the sheets, Korra peered out the window. The moon was high; it was late. Air Temple Island was dark, save the lamp burning in her room.

Korra carefully grabbed the soup with one hand and produced a flame in the other before stepping out of her room. The wooden floor was cold beneath her bare feet as she carefully wound her way down the hallways to the room in which she was keeping Amon. She flinched at the clicking of the doorknob as she turned it with the hand she had been firebending with, opening the door slowly so as to make sure it didn't creak. She closed the door behind her, flinching again at the latch. Amon's eyes were closed as she crossed the room to set the soup down and light the lamp.

Korra reached over to get the chair before returning to Amon to check his wounds. His eyes were open, staring at her.

"Avatar."

Korra jumped back with a gasp and bent fire into her hands. His voice was still raspy, and it was clear that he was incapable of attacking her; however, memories of that slightly altered voice addressing her in that exact way prompted a reaction that had become instinct. An attempt on Amon's part to chuckle came out in a wheeze that resulted in a coughing fit. Korra quickly released her stance and bent down beside him, bending some water near his lips for him to drink. His eyes didn't leave her face as he swallowed the water. Korra stepped back once more.

"Amon."

Silence followed as they stared at one another; two enemies caught in a situation in which neither quite knew what to do. Korra spoke first.

"How did you survive?"

"The same way I always do when I find myself in dire circumstances. In this instance, I was able to partially heal my more serious wounds until I found shore, clinging to a floating piece of wreckage from our boat. I bent the salt out of the sea water for hydration. Obviously, I was not able to last long like this, but the shore caught up to me and thus you found me." He closed his eyes for a moment before looking at her once more. "My question for you is, why? Why save me, knowing who I am?" His eyes were too intense.

Korra looked away, looked back, and looked away again. "I'm... not sure. I couldn't just leave you there to die." She swallowed as she met his pale blue eyes once more.

"You could have alerted someone else."

"They would have locked you up."

"Only you and Mako saw my face clearly enough to be able to identify me. You could have claimed I was a stranger, if you wanted to spare my incarceration for a later date."

"Maybe I panicked! Maybe I don't know what to do with you! Everyone thinks you're dead! Why bring a dead man back to life to terrorize Republic City anew?" Korra was close to shouting.

"For someone who seems to be trying to keep me a secret, you're being awfully loud."

Korra wanted to hit him. Instead, she picked up the bowl of soup and swung it towards his face. "I brought you food!"

Amon raised an eyebrow. "Lovely. Now, young Avatar, how do you suggest I eat that, with my hands in their current state?" He nodded at his limbs, still swollen and scarred. It would probably be days before he would be able to ball his hands into fists, much less hold a spoon.

Korra gave in. "Fine, I'll feed it to you. On the condition that you behave."

"Behave? I don't think that I'm capable of doing anything to misbehave, at this point in time."

Korra pushed a spoonful of soup against his lips. "Shut up and eat." Amon reluctantly accepted the spoon into his mouth. Some of the soup escaped and dribbled down his chin as Korra brought the spoon out. "Spirits..." Korra cursed as she wiped his chin with the tip of her thumb. She froze in the act. Amon's eyes were laughing at her. "Fuck you." She wiped her thumb on the leg of her pants. Another thing to wash.

The soup was gone quickly. Korra would need to find a way to sneak more food to him. "You should sleep," she advised. "Healing with water bending can only do so much. What's left to mend takes rest and time."

"Yes, Avatar, lecture me on waterbending, because I clearly know nothing about it."

"I'll be back to check on you in the morning." Korra walked to the door, ignoring his sarcastic quip.

"Oh, and Avatar?"

Glancing over, Korra spotted an almost secretive smirk on his face. "Yes, Amon?"

"I have to pee."

 

(to be continued...)


	3. Chapter 3

_Noatak released a deep breath as he closed the door of his apartment behind him. He leaned against it and closed his eyes for a moment as his cheek fell against the cool wood. He could still hear the cackling of Patient #5489 ringing through his head. It really had been a long day. He tilted his head forward and looked down the dark hallway before him. He could make out a light under one of the doors to the left, the kitchen. Tarrlok._

_Shifting his weight back to his feet, Noatak dragged himself toward the kitchen. "Tarrlok?" he called. "You in there?"_

_His brother's response was a muffled affirmation. Noatak came through the door to find Tarrlok eating takeout. He mentally groaned. They'd had takeout two nights ago, and two nights before that. A pattern was developing, and Noatak wasn't fond of it. "We have a table," he said to the chewing man leaning over the countertop. He placed his keys down next to Tarrlok and began to remove his coat._

_"I prefer to eat standing," Tarrlok said, having finished his bite of fried rice. "Keeps the blood flowing."_

_"You're a twit." Noatak slung his coat over the back of one of the chairs at the table._

_"Excuse me?"_

_"How's the lo mein?" He picked a carton at random from the counter, along with a pair of the wooden chopsticks, before sitting down in the chair he had graced with his coat._

_Noatak heard padded feet scampering down the hallway, the nails clicking against the hard wood flooring. He turned to hold out his hand to the Great Pyrenees parading through the kitchen door, which found great interest in his offering._

_"Hello, Naga. You can smell her, can't you?"_

_The dog's tail wagged for a few moments in hope, before falling slack between her legs at the realization that her master was not present._

_"Two years, and still loyal. That's a good dog." Noatak scratched her ears. Naga sat down next to his chair, preparing herself to receive any food that Noatak might offer. "Did you refill her bowl?" he addressed his brother._

_Tarrlok paused his eating for a moment and tilted his head in consideration. "Oh, yeah... I need to do that. I've been busy today."_

_"Busy with what? You don't exactly have a job anymore." Noatak opened his food. Some sort of chicken in sauce. Lovely._

_Tarrlok put down his food and made his way over to Noatak, patting Naga's head before sitting in the chair opposite his brother. "I still have of a lot of things to settle, people to talk to, papers to sign. The scandal doesn't go away just because we decided to settle out of court."_

_"That lady ever going to shut up? You need a job."_

_"That's the agreement. The most irritating part of it all, though, is that I didn't do it." Tarrlok looked Noatak in the eye. "I didn't."_

_"I know you didn't rape her. Or tie her up. Or kidnap her." Noatak popped a piece of chicken in his mouth and chewed. Swallowing, he continued. "I know you well enough to know that those are things that you wouldn't do. But the public is bloodthirsty- there's nothing juicier than a senator in scandal."_

_"Ex-senator, now." Tarrlok buried his face in his hands. "Broke ex-senator."_

_Noatak stopped chewing his chicken. "How did you pay for this, tonight? And the time before?"_

_"I just put it on your card."_

_"You're an ass."_

* * *

Korra didn't remember walking back to her room the night before, but here she was, tangled up in her sheets. The knocking on her door that had woken her up continued.

"What?" Korra checked herself to keep from screaming at the unfortunate person on the other side of the door.

Bolin opened the door a crack and peaked his head in. "Do you want to eat breakfast with us? We were going to eat and then go chill out in the park. But if you don't want to..."

"No! I want to go!" Korra interjected, causing the currently timid earth bender to release the tension he was carrying in his shoulders in relief. "Just give me a minute to get ready, and I'll eat with you guys in a few!"

"Awesome!" Bolin grinned. He gave her a thumbs up. "I'll be going now! See you soon!" He closed the door; Korra listened as he ran back down the hallway, her cheeks holding back a grin. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up with a stretch.

New shirt, new pants, spare pelt, same boots – she would have to take what she wore yesterday to Pema for washing. As she fastened her arm bands and tied back her hair, she chewed her lower lip and wondered how she would get food to Amon. He probably couldn't handle anything more that soup at the moment, and that wasn't usually on hand this early in the day. She stepped out her door and made her way to the others. She'd figure it out.

She let it slip from her mind as Mako greeted her with a kiss.

A twinge of guilt – that's what it was. Every time Korra looked at Asami, she felt a twinge of guilt.

Asami was close to flawless. She had perfect skin, perfect hair, a tiny waist, hell- she even had a perfect personality. Well, not perfect. Even a person with a perfect personality would have been angry with Korra. Sure, Asami was still close to silent with Mako; she had also been pretty chilly for about a day after Mako had kissed Korra on the cliffs, but now she carried on with the gang as if little to nothing had happened. If anything, she was just as incredibly nice to Korra as she had been before. Korra hated it.

Korra wanted Asami to explode; she wanted Asami to yell at her and tell her that she was a home-wrecking slut – because that is what Korra felt like whenever she looked at Asami or kissed Mako.

If Mako could leave someone as perfect as Asami, how could she know that he wouldn't leave her? If he'd done it once...?

Korra looked away from where Asami was sitting in the park. Perfect – just perfect; one moment she's feeling guilty because of what she did to Asami, the next she has the additional realization that she's not comfortable trusting Mako with her emotional well being. Way to go, Korra.

Korra looked down at Naga, who was sprawled in the grass next to the bench that Korra was sitting on. "Well, Naga – it looks like you're the only one here whom I won't have ever hurt in some way or the other, by the end of the day." She dragged her fingers through the soft, ivory fur.

"What was that?" Mako wiped sweat from his neck with a towel as he walked up to Korra's bench. Bolin had collapsed on the grass next to Naga, panting from the frisbee game the brothers had just played. Asami read under a tree, several yards away.

"It was nothing." Korra stood up and hesitantly walked over to Mako. "I think we need to talk."

"You think?" Mako raised an eyebrow, a hint of worry weaving into his tone.

"No. I don't think. I mean..." Korra grabbed his sleeve and tugged at it, leading him away from the others. "We need to talk." She felt her face growing tight, accompanied with a flicker of sadness through her core. She should have been more relieved to have realized one of the causes of her current restlessness, but the slight sadness was present all the same. She had wanted Mako. She had really wanted him. Realizing that she had to put their romance on hold was almost a frustration. Perhaps she would get over this quickly; perhaps Mako would prove himself in some grand deed that would sweep her off her feet. She let out a discreet snort. She wasn't the kind to be swept away.

"Mako, listen..." Korra found herself looking at his chin, his ear, the grass stain on his shirt; she looked anywhere that wasn't his eyes.

"We aren't working, are we?"

Korra jerked her head up. There was sadness in his eyes, too. She didn't want to do this, but she felt that she had to. "No. No, we're not." She ran her finger along the back of his hand before letting her arm drop to her side.

"I sort of figured. It's like you're never completely comfortable around me, anymore. You're always on edge, as if I'm going to run away." He took a few steps away and rested his forearm against a tree. "I'm not going anywhere Korra. Not unless you tell me to." He turned back towards her, once more making eye contact.

"I want to believe that, Mako– I really do. But whenever I look at Asami, I remember what you did to her – what WE did to her, and... I can't take it. I feel like I can't trust you; I want to, but I can't, and-"

"I would never do that to you!" Mako grabbed her by the shoulders, bringing his face close to hers. "I care about you! What more do I have to do to show that to you? I stayed by your side to fight a god damned revolution with you!" His voice was getting louder.

"I know! I know." Korra rested her hands on his chest, hoping to calm him down. "But I also know that at the time, you claimed to be dating someone who really needed your support, which you couldn't give because your attentions were elsewhere." She closed her eyes and rested her forehead on his chest. "I need time. I need to see that you actually are serious – that you won't lose all interest in me the moment some other girl becomes prominent your life, the way you did with Asami."

Korra felt Mako rest his chin on the top of her head. "Then, what do you want to do?"

Korra took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Take a break?" She looked up at him, blue eyes meeting gold. She had once wanted to swim in those eyes; now, they were turning cold against her. "I need to know that I can trust you; I don't want to be uncertain anymore."

"Isn't this a bit paranoid of you? I mean, really paranoid? People are people – it's next to impossible to be able to trust someone completely." He took a step back, letting Korra's hands fall in front of her.

"Yeah, it probably is. But it's what I need right now, okay?" Korra could see that his eyes were growing colder and colder. Fuck- she didn't want to lose him completely.

"So, what now?" Mako was looking down, his eyes hooded.

"I want to go back to just being friends... until I'm ready."

"After all of this, you want to go back to being friends?" His voice was strained, through gritted teeth.

Korra scratched the back of her head. "Well, when you think about it, it shouldn't be any different from that time I kissed you after the Pro-Bending match. We can approach it as if we're going back to then."

"We were different people, then, Korra."

"Mako... please. I didn't want this to have to happen, either."

Mako tilted his head back, looking at the sky. Korra heard him exhale in a deep, exasperated breath. He looked at her once more. "Fine. Friends?" He stretched his right arm out in front of him. Korra could tell that he was struggling to keep his face composed.

She grasped his hand. "Friends- for now." She fought back the habit that insisted she bring her lips to his cheek. Releasing his hand, she turned and the two silently made their way back to the others.

* * *

_Noatak groaned as another string of commercials began to play. "I swear that they show more commercials than actual television," he said to his brother, who seemed more interested in the contents of his wine glass than anything._

_"Hmm, don't forget product placement. Everything is just one big commercial. All of it." Tarrlok downed the last of his wine, keeping to glass tilted to catch any lingering drops. "Hey. Noatak."_

_"Yes?"_

_"How's my goddaughter?"_

_"Patient confidentiality, Tarrlok." Noatak rested his head against the back of the sofa. He tried to cross his legs, but found himself unable to due to Naga laying across his feet on the floor next to the couch._

_"I'm her guardian, Noatak. I'm sure you won't be held accountable for telling me anything in a nonprofessional environment. I feel responsible to Tonraq and Senna to make sure that their daughter is doing okay."_

_"Okay?"_

_"Not getting worse?"_

_Noatak sighed. "She isn't as bad as she was when her parents died. As I told you a few weeks ago, she is having an increasing number of lucid moments. She still clings to her delusional world, but there is a sense that she has reached some sort of stepping stone or turning point there that is slowly leading her out."_

_"So she might get better?"_

_"Possibly. If nothing develops in her self-created world that would act as an overbearing obstacle that would hold her there, there is a chance."_

_"Good." Tarrlok looked at his brother. "I may not act like it, but I care about her. She's the daughter of my friends, and she's my responsibility." His words were slurring. How much wine had he had?_

_"I know you care, Tarrlok."_

_Tarrlok put his wine glass on the coffee table and ran a hand through his long, loose hair. "When I found out that Tonraq and Senna were in an accident, I didn't know how I was going to handle being a mentor and guardian to Korra."_

_"And then you didn't have to; she skipped you and came to me."_

_"I didn't expect her to snap. I expected to find her upset, traumatized, and overcome with grief. I didn't even consider that I might walk in to find a girl who had lost all sense of reality."_

_"We've had this conversation too many times. There was nothing that you could have done differently to have changed the outcome."_

_"Maybe if I had driven faster…"_

_"I was there. You ran two red lights, a stop sign, and a light that you insist was still yellow. You couldn't have driven any faster."_

_"But then we got there–and she was clearly, just, gone. And you knew exactly what was happening, while I stood there unable to do anything."_

_"It's my job."_

* * *

Amon's only movement throughout the day seemed to have been the act of turning on to his side. His eyes shot open at the sound of Korra closing the door as she entered the room.

"Come to play doctor, again, Avatar?" His eyes were mocking.

Korra held up the bag she was carrying. "I brought you soup." She opened the bag and carefully removed the hot container.

"Did you make it?" The remnants of his eyebrows were raised, dubious.

"No, I picked it up from Narooks." She sat down at the edge of his bed, removed the lid from the soup, and took a smuggled spoon from her pocket.

"Narook's. I used to frequent that establishment quite a bit." Amon opened his mouth so that Korra could place the soup-filled spoon in it.

"Would you eat it if I had made it?" Korra filled another spoonful.

"Do you cook?"

"No."

"Then, probably not. Then again, I don't really have a choice. I've already put this much effort into surviving; I refuse to starve to death, now. And it's not like there has been any other food offered to me over the course of today." He swallowed more soup.

"You've been hungry."

"And bored."

Korra rolled her eyes. "You led a revolution. You're smart enough to figure out a way to entertain yourself."

Amon looked at her sternly. "In case you haven't noticed, Avatar, I am not in a position to move around much. My 'entertainment' can only be divulged from what I observe from my line of site while in this bed."

"Listen pal– your entertainment isn't my business. I'm just trying to heal you and send you on your merry way, preferably out of Republic City." The soup gone, Korra threw the carton back into the bag. She set the spoon on the bedside table and stood up. "Or does the great and powerful Amon wish for me to bring him a coloring activity?" Korra placed her hands on her hips and scowled at the man.

"Noatak."

"Excuse me?" Korra's facial expression shifted to surprise.

"My name. It's Noatak. Amon is dead with his revolution. The villains died and the heroic Avatar prevailed. It's what you wanted, isn't it?" The words were bitter, but his face was stoic.

Korra took a step back, suddenly struck with an overwhelming sadness for the fallen man before her. "I didn't want anyone to die," she whispered.

"I'm sure that Kyoshi carried similar sentiments the week before she sent that man off that cliff, Avatar."

"I am not Kyoshi!" Korra hissed. "I'm not Aang, either! I am myself; my past lives might be part of me, but they don't define me! I determine who I am!" She straightened her back. "And it's Korra," she added. "My name is Korra. I'm a person - not an idea, or an object- and my name is Korra."

"Korra," Noatak said, slightly rolling the r's. A shiver went down Korra's spine as he spoke her name.

"Noatak." It felt weird to say; it was strange to acknowledge her former enemy with a name so human.

They stood there awkwardly for a few moments, staring at each other. It was as if they had overcome some great obstacle, and neither knew what to do next.

"Won't your firebender be missing you?" Amon... NOATAK... cocked an eyebrow.

"We broke up today."

"Oh?"

"None of your business." Korra walked over to the door.

"And thus, a question to keep my mind occupied until you eventually decide to grace my presence, once more." Noatak rested his head back on his pillow. "A revolutionary leader, reduced to finding amusement in the romantic troubles of teenagers." He let out a long sigh. "I suppose it could be worse." Korra rolled her eyes as she stepped out of the room, Noatak still talking. "After all, I could be Tarrlok."

Korra shut the door behind her.


	4. Chapter 4

_Patient #1002 lifted her drooping eyes as he approached. "Dr. Noatak?"_

_Dr. Noatak stopped short. Had he heard her correctly? "Korra. You didn't call me 'Amon.'"_

_"You told me not to." The teenager tilted her head to the side, a piece of hair falling across her nose and dangling in her eye. She made no move to brush it away, and Dr. Noatak resisted the urge to push it back himself. She looked lost – more lost than she had in a while. "Why don't I hate you?"_

_Dr. Noatak sat down, his eyes never leaving hers. "Do you have a reason to?" She was acting odd; perhaps the medications he was giving her were working._

_"You took me away." Her eyes wandered away from his, despite his efforts to maintain the visual connection._

_"I had to. You couldn't stay at your house anymore."_

_"Because I would have been alone..." Korra's voice drifted as she slowly straightened her head to meet Dr. Noatak's gaze. "I can take care of myself."_

_Dr. Noatak exhaled. "No, you can't." With the majority of her mental awareness existing in a delusional state, Korra was in no shape to be independent in any way._

_Korra scowled. "I can. I don't like it here." She pulled her white sheets up around her chin and rested her head on the pillow. Whether she recognized it or not, her pillow was one of the few possessions from home that she was allowed to keep with her at the hospital. "No one here wears shoelaces..." her voice grew weak as her breathing deepened. She was soon completely asleep._

_Dr. Noatak sat there for a period of time, staring at her blankly while he chewed on the back of his pen. Even asleep, her face was tightened up. Korra never had a peaceful look on her face as she slept; it always appeared to be twisted or grimacing at something that was unsettling to her._

_This was the longest period of coherence that Patient #1002 had had in a while. It had been years since Korra had directly referred to her coming to the hospital. Dr. Noatak wished that he could feel proud of her progress, or satisfied with the results he was getting, but he dreaded what Korra's desire to revisit the circumstances of her stay would bring up. Necessary as acknowledging the reasons were, it was going to be a tumultuous journey._

* * *

Korra flung open the shutters of the room in which her patient was currently sleeping. A gurgling noise came from the bed behind her, protesting the influx of light.

"Rise and shine, old man! Today you learn to walk!" She spun on her heel to face the wounded man, Noatak. He was looking at her with disdain.

"Learn to walk? Excuse me, but I had been walking for over two decades by the time you were born." He looked her up and down. "And I'm still not sure that you've mastered the art, yourself."

Korra rolled her eyes as she made her way over to him. "Then this shouldn't take long. The fact is that you haven't moved from that bed in the last two weeks. As far as I know, you haven't walked since before Tarrlok decided to turn the two of you into a giant, friendly mushroom. You're out of practice."

Noatak glared at her. He used his arms to scoot his body backwards on the bed, into a sitting position. He then swung his legs over the side, his feet resting firmly on the wooden floorboards beneath them. "I assure you... _Korra_ ," he lilted her name, obviously still inclined to call her by her formal title, "I am quite capable of taking care of myself." He pushed himself off the bed, standing for a few moments while giving Korra a smug smirk.

Korra crossed her arms across her chest, returning that same, smug smirk. "Now walk."

With a frown, Noatak lifted his foot and brought it forward, placing it back on the floor. He gave Korra another satisfied look, which she again returned.

"And the other foot?"

Noatak proudly began to swing his other foot forward, bending his opposite knee too much. The results would have been disastrous, had Korra not caught him under the arm as he pitched forward.

"Yeah, you're a real pro. You totally proved me wrong about the whole being out of practice thing. You're practically ready to go skipping through the streets." She balanced his form across her shoulders, bringing him back to the standing position. If looks could kill, the expression that Noatak now directed at her would send her to the spirit world and back.

"Let me help you. There's no shame in that. You were in a damn boat explosion; just be glad that you're alive." Korra couldn't argue that the man had been through a lot. Perhaps she should let up on him a little – he had lost his livelihood, his brother, and almost his life all at once. He had every reason to have an attitude with her. That, and, she was pretty much the reason he had lost it all. Not that she thought she should have acted any differently – she was just beginning to recognize that in Noatak's eyes, she was as much a nuisance as a savior. "We'll try again. Let me have just a little of your weight, just to start off."

Noatak was silent as he relinquished some of the control of his person to Korra. His bare chest pressed against her shoulder. Korra pretended to be admiring her own handiwork in healing the wound in his side as she actually marvel led at Noatak's musculature. Over two weeks of not moving at all, and the man was still incredibly toned.

"Now, one foot forward..." Korra gave him some of his own weight back as he eased his foot forward, matching with her own foot. "And now the other..." Noatak began to stumble, but Korra gave him enough support to balance himself out. "You're doing good. Now, again."

"Don't patronize me, Korra. I am no child." His voice was stern. Korra looked up to see his brow furrowed in concentration in the task at hand.

"Yeah, yeah – you're way older than me and I should respect that. I feel sorry for the people who take care of you when you grow old; you'll constantly be reminding them that you're older and therefore you know better." Korra shook her head. "Just let me help you," she repeated. "I'm all you've got."

Noatak looked down at her, his expression unreadable. "Fine." He gave a short nod. "Let us continue?"

Korra suppressed a grin as she helped him in to the next step. They made it to the window, across to the door, and then back to the bed. Both were wet with perspiration by the end; Noatak from moving for the first time after a long period of being sedentary, and Korra from supporting the weight of a full grown man. Stopping a foot from the bed, Korra released her hold on Noatak and took a step back. He wobbled for a second before finding his balance. "Why don't you try this last step to the bed on your own?"

He raised an eyebrow at her before looking forward. First one step, then the other... and he was tumbling again. Korra tried to swoop in to catch him, only to find herself pinned down on the bed by Noatak's fallen body, her face pressed into the crook of his neck. For someone who hadn't had an actual bath in a while, he didn't smell all that bad.

At that moment, the door swung open. Mako stared, wide-eyed, at Korra, his mouth slightly agape. Korra rolled herself out from under Noatak, who now looked more confused than the initial expression of annoyance that had been on his face when he had found himself on top of Korra. Korra looked at Mako, trying to find the words to explain. "Well... shit."


	5. Chapter 5

"Mako... you have shit timing." Korra slowly walked toward the dazed firebender, whose eyes failed to move from Noatak's face. She made her way behind Mako and closed the door. The last thing that she wanted was for Mako to bolt before she had a chance to explain.

Noatak sat up on the bed, slouching a bit as he stared back at Mako with a bored expression on his face. His mouth spread into a lazy grin. "It's been a while, little firebender."

Mako jumped back a bit, his eyes wide, pressing himself against the wall. "Korra – that's... that's..." His voice was panicked. A flame appeared in his hand.

"How cute – it has a candle."

Korra maneuvered her body between Mako and Noatak, trying to shift Mako's attention on to her. "Mako, if you just calm down, I can explain." She stepped closer to him.

The firebender's head jerked toward Korra. " _Explain_?" His voice hitched in his throat, cracking as the words left his mouth. "Amon is sitting right in front of us, _alive_ , and all you want to do is _explain_? Shouldn't we first remember the number of times that he tried to kill us?" The flame in his palm increased in size.

The bed creaked beneath Noatak as he leaned back on it. "I never tried to kill you. Well, not until you blew my cover and ruined my revolution and electrocuted me. _Then_ , I might have tried to kill you... but only then."

Mako's mouth hung wide as he looked from Noatak to Korra. " _Korra_!"

Korra took a deep breath and placed her hands on Mako's shoulders. "Mako, I need you to put the fire away."

"But–!"

"Now."

Mako's face betrayed defiance for a moment before he lowered his arm, the flame extinguished. He shot a quick glare at Noatak. "Is this why you broke up with me? Because of _him_?" His muttered words were almost inaudible, and he wouldn't make eye contact with Korra.

"No. I told you why. Sure, dealing with his healing and trying to keep it a secret from you was stressful, but everything I told you in the park was the truth." Mako's face looked lost and hurt. He was still trying to reach for what Korra couldn't give him. She gestured toward Noatak. "I found him, dying on the beach. I couldn't just leave him there. Do you understand? I had to help him, even if he was once a jackass to us. What's to say that he can't change?"

"I'm right here, _Avatar_." Korra spun her head around to glare at Noatak, who was staring at the ceiling. His eyes flickered to hers as he caught her movement and facial expression. "Korra," he corrected himself. Korra turned back to Mako. Concern riddled his face.

"But he's still _Amon_. He's a bloodbending evil mastermind." His body was tense, ready to defend them both should Noatak make a move.

"People can change, Mako. I'm giving him one chance. His brother tried to kill him by blowing up a boat that they both were in – if that isn't a wakeup call, I don't know what is."

Mako turned toward Noatak, addressing him directly for the first time. "Where is your brother? Where's Tarrlok?"

Noatak stretched an arm out in front of himself, his joints cracking as he flexed his fingers. "I imagine he served as a hefty banquet to a school of fish. Whatever my brother's fate might have been, I have not seen Tarrlok since he tried to end my life along with his. Shocking as this may sound, I'm not altogether pleased with his attempt to murder me." Noatak stared back at Mako, his face blank.

Mako huffed as his attention transferred to Korra once more. "You are keeping Amon on Air Temple Island. Amon who abused us – who tortured Tenzin's family, took Lin's bending along with the bending of numerous others, forced Bolin back into diapers at night due to pure terror, lied to all of Republic City, filled your life with waking nightmares at every turn, took your bending, forced you into an impenetrable depression for a week, and so many other things that I can't even begin to scratch the surface of – and you're coming in here at night to play _nurse_ to him!" Mako's voice rose with each point, building up to a level at which he was seething by the delivery of his final argument.

Korra placed a hand on Mako's heaving chest, looking at him as calmly as she could as she panicked inside. "Mako, I need you to breathe. I need you to calm down so that you can listen to me." The firebender's chest rose and fell beneath her hand, slowing with each breath. Korra could feel Noatak's eyes staring at the back of her neck, curious as to what her response would be.

"What is it?" Mako grunted through his teeth, trying to keep his breathing level.

"Do you remember my reason for breaking up with you?" Korra looked up into his tawny eyes, waiting for his response. Mako exhaled. Their positions were not much different from the way they had stood that day at the park, not long ago.

"You said that you couldn't trust me."

"Exactly. And I told you that you need to _prove_ to me that I can trust you, remember?"

Mako gave a quick nod, looking away for a moment.

"So show me that I can trust you. Now is your perfect chance. I need your help; I'd be lying to myself if I thought I could take care of Noatak on my own."

Mako gazed at her with hooded eyes. "Help you _how_?"

"First, by not telling anyone that Noatak is here. Do you understand?" At Mako's nod, Korra continued, "And I need someone to bring food to him whenever I can't. Do you think you can do that?" Another nod. Korra felt the tension in her shoulders relaxing a bit. She could make this work. She took a deep breath. "And I need you to help me find a place for him to stay in the city."

"What?" Mako raised an eyebrow, slightly confused.

"I can't keep him on Air Temple Island forever. Eventually, he'll need a place to stay in the city where he can, hopefully, start over. You and I are the only two who saw his face up close. No one else will recognize him. His voice is slightly different without the mask filtering his speech, so any noticed similarity there will be written off by everyone because they all think that Amon's dead. And Amon _is_ dead. This is Noatak." Korra swept her arm in the direction of the man behind her. "We can make this work."

Mako shook his head and let out an exasperated sigh. "Fine, I'll help you – if it means that you'll trust me again. I'll start looking for places where we can take him tomorrow."

Korra flung her arms around Mako's neck and squeezed him. "Thank you. This means a lot to me." Korra released him and smiled at him. Mako gradually relented into returning a small smirk.

"Have you taken his bending?"

Korra glanced away, licking her lips. "Like I said, he gets one chance."

Silence fell across the room as Korra and Mako stood there, neither one quite sure what to say next.

A small chuckle was heard from the bed next to them. "So, I put the earthbender in _diapers_?"

* * *

_"Dr. Noatak?"_

_The man in question looked up from his clipboard and gazed back into the icy blue eyes of Patient #1002. The new medication that he had her on was working well for her; she was calling him by name more and more frequently, leaving 'Amon' behind._

_"Yes, Korra?"_

_Her eyes broke away from his to drift around the room. "Why is everything white?"_

_"Pardon?"_

_"Everything in this room is white." She looked back at him. "The bed is white, the sheets are white, the walls are white, the chair is white, the floor is white – white everywhere." She paused. "Except for you. You have color. And I have color. But nothing else has color."_

_Dr. Noatak made a note on his clipboard – she was aware, but slightly nonsensical. "And what color would you like to see?"_

_"Baby blue." No hesitation. She pulled on a piece of her hair and began to chew on it. Dr. Noatak leaned forward and pushed it back behind her ear. Korra frowned a bit._

_"Changing the decoration of the rooms is against hospital protocol, I'm afraid." He sat back._

_"So is hugging."_

_"Excuse me?"_

_"You hugged me the other day. That's against protocol." Korra tilted her head as she stared at him, waiting for his response._

_"If I recall correctly, you hugged me and I did nothing to encourage your behavior in doing so." He bit on the inside of his cheek. Dr. Noatak could get into a great deal of trouble if his patient went around telling people that he had touched her in any manner, other than with the purpose of giving her medication._

_"Don't worry – I won't tell anyone." Korra gave him a sly smile that was anything but reassuring._

_"Who told you that physical contact was against hospital policy?" Dr. Noatak shifted uneasily in his seat. He understood the legal liabilities of physical contact with the patients, but the policy was far from his favorite. These patients were locked in a room left to themselves for most of the day; the most basic comfort of human contact was denied to them for the majority of the week. True, many had physical therapy with Dr. Lin several times a week, always in the presence of many hospital personnel and lacking in anything as comforting as a basic hug or a reassuring pat; she assisted in stretching at the most. What was left to ground the patients who received no outside visitors, if they couldn't even rely on the touch of another human being to connect them to the present world? His desire to remain professional constantly battled with his instinct to comfort, especially with Patient #1002._

_Korra began chewing on her hair again. "Tenzin told me."_

_"Any reason why?"_

_"I tried to hug him, too. He didn't let me the way you did."_

_"And what spurred your need to embrace Dr. Tenzin?"_

_"You."_

_Dr. Noatak's eyes widened for a moment. He regained his composure. "Please explain."_

_The wet piece of hair clung to the side of Korra's face as she clasped the sheets of her bed around her neck, curling into herself. "You had all those men surround me. I couldn't move."_

_Dr. Noatak furrowed his brow. What was she talking about? "When was this?"_

_"I don't know; a long time ago." Korra twisted her face into her pillow, muffling some of her words. "There were so many people, and you had brought them, and you were talking to them, and I couldn't move because I was frightened."_

_Dr. Noatak stared at her for a few moments in confusion before realization dawned on him. The hospital board. Every so often, the hospital hoard came in to check on specific patients who had made little to no progress and listen to the assigned doctor's opinion of the case. Rarely did more than one or two come, but each of the board members had been particularly curious about the nature of Patient #1002's delusions. By that point, Korra had made little headway in the year and a half that she had been hospital. Dr. Noatak hadn't even considered then how terrifying it must have been to her to have so many strangers present when she herself did not have a firm grasp of the present reality. For all he knew, he could have brought in a group of demons to ogle at her, in her mind's eye._

_"Korra... I didn't realize. I'm sorry. Really. I'm so, so sorry." He couldn't resist the urge to physically comfort her; lawsuits be damned. He held no perverse intentions toward this young woman; he hoped that she understood that. He reached out and rubbed her shoulder, trying to console her. She looked back at him with watery eyes. "They were never going to hurt you."_

_She shook him off and sat upright. "And then you left with all those people, and Tenzin came in, and all I could do was cry, but he wouldn't let me hug him or touch him, and–" Kora let out a gasp for air. "I felt so alone!" Tears fell down her face as she mentally relived the traumatic experience. Dr. Noatak stroked her hair back, removing a tissue from the pocket of his coat to wipe her face with._

_"You're not alone, Korra. Someone is always here for you, do you understand?"_

_Korra sniveled a bit as she nodded._

_"That was several months ago; how did you recover from your fear when Dr. Tenzin couldn't help you from feeling alone?"_

_Korra gave the ghost of a smile, swallowing before responding to Dr. Noatak's question. She took the tissue from his hand and finished wiping her eyes on her own. Looking up at him with dry eyes, Korra grinned. "I remembered that I'm stronger than the helpless, unmoving pile that I momentarily allowed myself to be, and that I'm strong enough to keep my fears from stopping me."_

_Dr. Noatak sat back in the chair and returned the grin that Korra was directing toward him. He was glad to see that, through it all, her fighting spirit could never be completely defeated. He remembered witnessing it in the few occasions that he had met her before her parents' tragedy; she had always been a spirited fighter. If the hospital board could see her now, they would see that Patient #1002 was making more progress in a faster amount of time than any of them had ever thought possible._


	6. Chapter 6

_Dr. Noatak awoke with a jolt, his shirt clinging to his back in perspiration. Why was he still in his clothes? He usually wore only a pair of briefs to bed; why was he wearing the clothing that he had put on yesterday morning? Hell, even his shoes were still on! As he sat up, he clutched his head; the throbbing pain that overcame him made his ears pound. He began to try to piece the events of the night before together. Clearly, he was hungover._

_That's right – he had gone to a bar after leaving the hospital last night. He did this occasionally; it was a good way to clear his head of the screams of the patients. He had been watching a game while absently talking to an attractive red-head. She had expressed a fondness for doctors. How many drinks had he ordered? The tab must have been expensive as hell, by the end of the night. Had that woman come home with him? Had anything happened between them? He vaguely remembered a sloppy, drunken kiss. There was no one in the bed with him, but – there, a woman's purse had been thrown onto the chair in the corner._

_A clicking noise was coming down the hall; it was slower, heavier, and less even than the scraping of Naga's nails. The busty red-head appeared in Dr. Noatak's doorway, glared at him, stumbled across the room to snatch her purse out of the chair, and made her way out after delivering another glare in Dr. Noatak's direction. As Dr. Noatak listened to her heels make their way to the front door of the apartment, a boxer-clad Tarrlok replaced her in the doorway._

_"Good, you're up." Tarrlok leaned against the door frame._

_"What was that?" Dr. Noatak reached for the water bottle that he kept on his bedside table, unscrewed the cap, and took a long swig._

_"You stumbled into the apartment around one in the morning and fell asleep before your date could even get her shirt off." Tarrlok smirked and bowed his head a bit. "Fortunately, I was here to entertain her in your stead, if you know what I mean."_

_"You're disgusting. This is how you get lawsuits filed against you." Dr. Noatak swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up, closing his eyes and grasping the bedside table for support as he overcame the wave of dizziness._

_Tarrlok grinned at his older brother. "Oh? Do you want me to call her back, so that the two of you can finish what you started last night? I'm sure she would be thrilled-"_

_"No."_

_"When was the last time you slept with anyone, anyway? College?" Tarrlok's eyebrows were doing a little dance of amusement._

_"Fuck you."_

_"You work too much – you need to relax a little and lay off the crazy people for a bit."_

_"That's what I was doing last night, until I fell asleep." Dr. Noatak unbuttoned his shirt and stripped it off._

_"Ah, yes. It must have been past your bedtime. Next, you'll be eating dinner at four-thirty in the afternoon and looking into diapers, old man."_

_"I really hate you some times, Tarrlok." He kicked his shoes off an stripped off his socks._

_"What time do you need to be in to the hospital today?" Tarrlok stood up straight in the doorway, changing the direction of the conversation._

_"Noon. They let come in late on Saturdays and only for emergencies on Sundays." He unbuckled his pants and slipped them off before taking another sip of water._

_"How is Korra doing?"_

_"She seems to be doing a lot better. I think she might actually pull herself completely out of her delusions, one of these days. For now, it's the small steps that matter the most."_

* * *

"Hi! We'd like to rent a room for our friend here!" Korra delivered her biggest smile to the concierge of the Republic City Inn. The slightly-shriveled and severe woman didn't look convinced. She leaned forward over the desk and squinted at Noatak, who was slung between Korra and Mako for support.

"Is he okay?" She sat back and pursed her lips.

"Uh, yeah! He's just a bit wobbly-legged, uh, since he got off the boat! Yanolok just got in, you see!" A bead of sweat trickled down the back of Korra's neck. Noatak was had turned to glare at her. Mako shifted uneasily.

"And he'll be okay on his own?"

"Yeah, oh yeah!" Mako chimed in. "He just needs to, you know, rest a bit."

Noatak grumbled something under his breath about being perfectly capable of speaking for himself. Korra elbowed him in the ribs, silencing him after a brief gurgle escaped the man's lips.

"Name?"

"Yanolok," Korra firmly stated. She had come up with it on the journey, knowing that it would piss Noatak off while he could hardly protest it.

The woman scribbled the name down and slipped them a large brass key. "Room 102, up the stairs on the left. How long will he be staying with us?"

Korra grabbed the key and nudged the other two to start walking. She looked at the seated woman over her shoulder. "Indefinitely?"

The woman rolled her eyes before turning her attention towards the young couple that had just come in the door.

"Yanolok?" Noatak grumbled to Korra. "Did you really just take the names of my father and brother and mash them together with my own?"

"Look, you don't have to use it often, and you can choose another name once you get a bit more settled. For now, we need you off the island. Soon, hopefully, you can get a job and find a place to permanently live. First you need to get entirely better. Okay?" Korra slipped the key into the lock of Room 102.

"Fine." Noatak turned away from her as he broke free of Korra and Mako to stumble into the room on his own.

"We'll be back in a few hours with food. In the meantime, practice walking." Korra handed the room key to Noatak before backing out of the room with Mako.

"See you later, then."

She closed the door.

"I think that the combination of the names of three evil bloodbenders suits him." Mako stretched his shoulders as he and Korra left the hotel.

"Shut up, Mako."

Korra's greatest hope was that Noatak would be able to make a new life for himself, without the stain of any of the members of his family – including his own stain.


	7. Chapter 7

_Patient #1002 was silent. Dr. Noatak stared at the young woman, whose face was turned away from him, toward the wall that her bed was pushed up against. Her legs were folded up beneath her in a defensive position. She seemed to be aware, but resentful about it. Nurses reported that, the night before, she had fallen into a screaming fit. She had kept shouting about how she "needed to get back" and how "Republic City needed" her. The nurses said that she had eventually worn herself down into this silence; he had ordered them not to sedate her, as he wanted to see where this new awareness would take the patient._

_"Korra?" He clicked his pen. She turned her head to look at him for a moment before returning her focus to the wall. Dark bruises had formed under her eyes, and there was a small scratch on her cheek. "Korra, I need to know how you're doing today."_

_"No." Her voice was almost a whisper._

_"Did you sleep last night?"_

_"No." The same whisper, but slightly louder._

_"Did you go to Republic City last night?"_

_Korra whipped her head around, her eyes bearing into Dr. Noatak's. "No!" This time, her voice came out ragged and rough._

_Dr. Noatak took note. "Can you tell me why you're so angry about this?"_

_"I trusted you," she muttered. "But then you took my city away."_

_"Weren't you always in danger there?" Dr. Noatak leaned forward, setting his pen down for a moment in order to give her his full attention._

_"But I liked the danger; I always took care of it. Everything always works out in the end, in Republic City." She leaned her head against the wall, stretching her legs out in front of her._

_"You don't think that there are good endings in this world?" Dr. Noatak tried to give her a reassuring smile. It felt awkward on his face, so he let it fall._

_Korra opened her mouth, and then closed it. She inhaled audibly; Dr. Noatak watched as her back rose and fell with her breath. "In Republic City, I'm the Avatar. I'm special there; important. Here, I'm no one. No one is special; there are no Avatars."_

_"People can be special without bending, or without being the Avatar. There are lots of special people in this world." He didn't try smiling again._

_"But I'm not one of them. Here, I'm just a girl." She must have been holding back tears, as she swiped a finger under her right eye. It came back wet._

_"I think that you're special." Dr. Noatak tried to sound encouraging. He was preferred listening to trying to give pep talks._

_"Of course you think I'm special!" Korra began laughing. It was a heart-wrenching and desperate laugh; the kind of laugh that comes from a person who is coming out of disbelief and being overwhelmed with hopelessness, but still able to find sarcastic humor in her surroundings. "You must think I'm special, or else I wouldn't be here!" Her laughs turned into sobs._

_Dr. Noatak dropped his clipboard and pen to the floor and approached the girl. He sat at the edge of her bed and took her shaking form into his arms, resting her head on his shoulder. He could tell that she still wasn't eating right; he could feel her bones jutting out from beneath her hospital gown._

_"Of course I think you're special. You're creative, and clever. Who else could create an entire world the way that you have? And Republic City Korra isn't the only strong Korra; you're just as strong as her. I've seen it. The Korra in this world is just as special, if not more so, as any other Korra in any other world."_

_It wasn't working; Korra continued to sob._

_"And- and you'll still be special and unique once you aren't in this hospital. You aren't here for forever, you know." He rubbed his thumb in the small of her back._

_Korra continued to cry, but her guttural sobs had paused. She was listening._

_"Once you're completely better, once you no longer need to rely on escaping to Republic City to feel happy, you won't have to stay here. Your godfather Tarrlok will happily take you in, and then you'll start a new, normal life outside of the hospital."_

_Korra brought her head up from his shoulder. "Tarrlok?"_

_Dr. Noatak took a tissue out of his pants pocket and wiped Korra's wet face off with it. He held it under her nose. "Blow." She obliged. "Tarrlok hasn't been to visit very recently, has he?"_

_"No." She sat back against her pillow, eyeing him. She seemed to want to believe Dr. Noatak's words, but remained wary of them._

_"Well, he's been pretty busy lately. He needs a new job." He held the tissue in his hand awkwardly._

_"Did something happen with one of his women?"_

_Dr. Noatak fought back a laugh. "His what? How did you know about that?"_

_"I heard Mom complain about it once. About how Tarrlok's women were going to get him into trouble, one day."_

_"That's the first time that you've casually mentioned your mother since you got here." He stood up to return to his chair._

_Korra jerked her head up at him, her eyes wide with shock. Her body began shaking. Dr. Noatak dove for her as her body suddenly went limp, catching her head before it fell against the metal bedframe._

_"Korra!"_

_She was unconscious, and her breathing had become regular. She was finally asleep._

* * *

It was early in the day, and the farmers market was relatively uncrowded. A sticky humidity seemed to linger over Republic City this morning.

Korra frowned up at the large man who walked beside her.

"What?" Noatak shifted the large bag of fruit that he was carrying from one arm to the other. He still walked with a slight limp, but no longer needed any assistance in his mobility.

"I don't like it," she said. They stopped in front of a melon stand.

"Don't like what?" He picked a melon up with one hand and sniffed it. Both Noatak and Korra could tell that the seller was trying not to stare at Noatak's scars. He set the melon down, and the two headed for the next booth.

"I'm far too comfortable around you." She chewed on her lip. "You threatened my own life and the lives of my friends several times; why am I comfortable around you, now?"

"You probably should have asked yourself that when you were healing me."

"I don't feel as if you're going to hurt me, and it bothers me."

"Well, I do owe you several debts for what you've done for me. So, there's that. Also, I gain nothing from hurting you now. I can't go back to the equalists; they won't have me. Honestly, if anyone should be worried about one of us hurting the other, I should be the concerned one. After all, I did do all those things you listed. I need you here more than you need me." Noatak shrugged.

"I ruined your entire career; you have just as much reason to want revenge as I do." Korra lowered her voice as the stall owner asked her if she needed any assistance. She bought ten of the small, red vegetables that he was selling.

Noatak snorted. "My harming you would only result in my own death, especially with Mako watching my every move."

The firebender in question was sitting on the edge of a fountain that stood in the center of the plaza, watching them. Korra smiled at him and waved. Mako nodded in response. Korra jerked a few of her fingers, laughing as water in the fountain rose up and doused Mako's backside. He jumped up with a yelp and glared at her. Korra tugged at Noatak's arm, indicating that they should move to the next stand.

"Mako's harmless." Korra shrugged. They watched him for a few minutes as he tried, and failed, to dry his wet pants with fire. "If he keeps that up, he's going to have trouble sitting down for a few days."

Noatak laughed, and Korra looked back up at him.

"You have a nice laugh."

"Should I be flattered?" He took the vegetables she had just bought in his unoccupied hand.

Korra considered. "Yes." She smiled. "There's a seller over there who sells delicious Water Tribe candy. I want to get some for the airbabies." She pointed across the plaza, leading him in the direction of her finger. "Also, have you thought any more about a job?"

"None of the listings in the paper were incredibly appealing."

"I've heard that the Pro-bending Arena is looking for new management." Korra grinned at the former revolutionary.

"No." Noatak rolled his eyes.

"Narook's is often hiring."

"Great, I could serve assholes such as Tahno and his moronic groupies."

"Awe, he isn't that bad, you know, ever since you... yeah. He's been humbled." Korra picked up a taffy stick and chewed on the end of it, tossing the seller a coin as she did so.

"Because my sole intentions were to reform the Wolfbats. I'm so glad that my revolution had such marvelous results." Acerbic sarcasm dripped from Noatak's words. Korra stuck a candy stick in his mouth, his hands being full.

"Eat candy; be happy." She paid for a bundle of the stick taffy, watching as the merchant wrapped it up for her. She signaled for Mako to join them to leave.

Noatak brushed past her, leading the way to the docks and the ferry back the Air Temple Island. He wouldn't join them, of course, but it was helpful to have him carry their purchases to the boat. He was still reluctant to get on boats; Korra had practically had to knock him out to get him to the Republic City mainland several weeks ago. The skin of Noatak's arm made contact with Korra's shoulder, and a shiver went up her spine. She felt a sudden fluttering sensation in her abdomen, and felt heat rush to her face.

_What the hell?_


	8. Chapter 8

_Dr. Noatak stared at Patient #6413, and Patient #6413 stared back with a pout. Dr. Kya, who was assigned to Tahno, had left that morning for a one week vacation. Dr. Noatak could already tell that it was going to be a long week._

_Tahno twirled his thick, greasy hair around his finger, continuing his glare. "Korra says that she's not the Avatar." His gaze was accusatory, as if he were blaming Dr. Noatak._

_Dr. Noatak raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And when did she tell you this?"_

_"When she and Dr. Lin walked by in the hallway the other day. I thanked her for my bending, but then she said that she wasn't the Avatar and that there was never any bending to give back. She said it wasn't real."_

_Dr. Noatak nodded. This was good. Korra had been much more engaged with the waking world the past few weeks, returning to her imaginings of "Republic City" only through sleep and daydreams. He was proud of how far she had come, and relieved that her progression toward coming to her senses wasn't just an act that she was putting on for him._

_"And how do you feel about that, Tahno? Do you still believe that Korra is the Avatar, and that you are a waterbender in Republic City?" He handed the boy a small cup into which he had placed Tahno's medication, and another small cup of water. Tahno released his hair, letting it fall limp between his eyes, and accepted the cups._

_"No, but it sure as hell beats being_ here _." He tossed the pills back and gulped down the water in two fluid movements, his eyes never leaving Dr. Noatak's._

* * *

Korra walked next to a shirtless Noatak, swinging a bag of takeout from Narook's between them. She had told Tenzin that she wouldn't be home for dinner because she wanted to train on her own. It was another lie to add to the pile of deception that she was using to keep Noatak a secret. Of course, she supposed that anyone who saw her walking down the street with him could have told the airbending master that she had recently been seen with a strange, older man on several various occasions. In truth, Korra felt a bit sorry for Noatak, alone in the city while trying to make an entirely new identity for himself... not that he hadn't done it before. He had succeeded in finding a job in construction without her help, but had yet to create any relationships that resembled friendship with any of his coworkers. Korra left Air Temple Island in the evening once a week to eat dinner with Noatak under the guise of training, earning no doubt or questioning from Tenzin even while receiving glares and scowls from Mako.

Noatak led her down the hall of the hotel that he continued to stay in and slipped the key into the lock on the door, opening it with ease. Korra prided herself in assisting the full recovery of Noatak's dexterity. She walked into the room behind Noatak and set the food down on the coffee table. She then collapsed into one of the two slightly worn armchairs, watching as Noatak threw the shirt that he had been carrying into a basket of laundry in the corner. She wondered if he washed his clothes by hand, or went to the laundromat across the street?

"I'm going to wash up." Noatak dragged himself in the direction of the bathroom, removing his pants as he did so. He apparently saw no need for modesty around Korra; there was little of him that she hadn't seen while healing him and aiding in his recovery.

"Good," Korra called after him before he closed the bathroom door. "You smell!" She pinched her fingers against her nostrils in exaggerated disgust.

Noatak rolled his eyes and shut the door.

* * *

_"Hey, Tarrlok." Dr. Noatak addressed his younger brother as he set his plate down on the table. Naga was sitting beneath his seat, eagerly waiting for any crusts that Noatak would inevitably toss her way. Her tail thudded against the floor as she wagged it._

_Tarrlok stared at his piece of pizza as if it were his enemy. "What?"_

_Dr. Noatak sat. "Are you ever going to visit Korra? She's doing a lot better."_

_Tarrlok glanced at him before taking a bite of the doughy food. "I'll see her when she is better, and you bring her home."_

_"So this will be her home? My apartment?" Dr. Noatak peeled a pepperoni off his slice and shoved it in his mouth. So much for his life as a bachelor - not that he ever had much company, anyway._

_"Didn't you notice when I lost my job and had to leave my house? I don't see anywhere else to keep her. And you like her fine, right? It will likely be useful to have her doctor around the house." Tarrlok flicked his crust to Naga, who scrambled to get it._

_"And here I've always tried to not bring my work home with me." Dr. Noatak leaned down and scratched behind Naga's ears. Maybe he would look into buying a house for them all - Naga wasn't exactly an apartment dog. "Maybe you could head in for a visit, and bring Naga? I'm sure Korra would like to see her again. It could help, you know."_

_Tarrlok looked skeptical. "You allow dogs as big as that into the hospital?"_

_Dr. Noatak bit into his food and responded with a full mouth. "I can make an exception for family."_

* * *

A dripping Noatak, naked with the exception of a towel tied around his waist, emerged from the bathroom, causing Korra to sit up in the armchair. She felt heat flooding her cheeks, which she tried to hide with nonchalance.

"You were in there forever!" She rolled her eyes at him. "Don't worry, though - I kept the food warm."

Noatak shook his head as he rummaged through the dresser for clothes. "Do you firebend the food to spite or impress me, Korra? I have trouble telling, sometimes."

Korra shrugged. "Probably to spite you. Also, not a huge fan of cold food. If it's not steaming hot, I'm not eating it."

Noatak, still in a towel but with clothes under his arm, opened one of the containers and sniffed it. "That's good, because you burned this one. It's yours." He passed it to her. "And now I know that out of the Avatar's many skills, cooking is not among them." He opened another container, sniffed it, and seemed to approve. He set it down, turning back toward the bathroom. "I'll be back; I don't believe that it's very acceptable to eat with company in the nude."

Korra laughed as she took a bite of the food that she had burned. "As if you need to leave the room to change. One of your biggest burns was right below your ass - I've seen it all, Noatak."

Noatak glanced at her, mischievous for a moment. "And yet I've seen so little of you."

"What?" Korra choked on her food.

"You heard me." Noatak disappeared into the bathroom.

Spirits! Korra wished that she knew enough bloodbending to keep the blood from her cheeks at this moment. The idea of being naked in front of Noatak shouldn't have excited her. Where was her clever retort? Her ability to brush his comment off as a joke, which it probably was (and nothing more)? Changed or not, he was still the man who had once inspired enough fear in her to keep her awake during the night for weeks! And even if she was smitten in the slightest, there was no way he returned the sentiment - she doubted that it was possible for him to forget that she was the one who had brought about his undoing. He certainly didn't mind bringing up that event in jest from time to time; and even if he did joke about it, that meant that it was on his mind and that the resentment probably lasted.

A fully clothed Noatak came out of the bathroom and sat down in the chair next to Korra. He looked at her with a slightly concerned expression. "Are you well, Korra? Your face is pale."

Well, at least she had succeeded in getting rid of the blush. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just a bit tired." She picked her food back up, and he followed suit.

"Busy day as the Avatar?"

"You could say that. Had a few meetings with the new council members, did a bit of training, took Naga out on a run." She started to slurp up a noodle, but stopped herself half-way. She tried to remember that she was in company that was a bit more mature than Bolin. Noatak didn't seem to mind, however. Korra continued her slurp.

"New council members?" Noatak looked surprised as he thoughtfully chewed his food.

"Well Tarrlok's... yeah, and the other council members kind of quit in fear. Tenzin's still there, though."

"Of course."

They ate in silence for a while. Korra kept glancing at Noatak, wondering what he was thinking about. What was his true opinion of her, now? Did he think of her as more of an enemy still, or as more of a friend, since she had helped him?

Noatak noticed her glances. "Is something wrong?"

"No... I was just wondering if you still hated me for ruining your revolution."

It was Noatak's turn to choke as he let out a deep, hearty laugh. "Hate you? After all you've done for me?" He chuckled and then considered. "You make a point - while I might be grateful for your efforts, I could still dwell on all the plans that you ruined and brood in the goals and dreams that were never achieved because of you." He frowned. "But that would be following in my father's footsteps - always dwelling on past failures and devoting the rest of his life to revenge. And you already know that I don't want to be my father." He grinned at her. "Or I could embrace the new start that you've tried to make possible for me, graciously accepting my defeat and the fact that I can't go back to the way things were, and move on with this new life. The latter seems a great deal less stressful."

"So you don't hate me?" Korra smiled.

"Not anymore, no. I am immensely grateful for all that you've done for me, and if anything, I've started to grow fond of you. I enjoy our weekly dinners." Noatak lifted the container to his lips and drained the remaining broth.

"Well, now that that's settled, I should probably head out. I can only 'train' for so long before Tenzin gets suspicious." Korra stood up and stretched.

Noatak nodded and stood, as well. "Do you want me to walk you to the docks? It's dark out."

Korra laughed and shook her head. "I'm the Avatar. I'll be fine."

Noatak paused and looked as if he wanted to say something else in protest to her statement, but held back. "Are you sure?"

Korra nodded again. "Yeah." She knew what he had been prepared to say; she knew that he was thinking about the time that he had bested her at Aang Memorial Island. She shook the memory off as she headed toward the door. Noatak followed, opening it for her.

"Same time, next week?" He asked.

"Yep!" Korra walked through the door. She was soon halted by Noatak's hand on her shoulder.

"I... I just wanted to say that I really do enjoy your company. I'm really glad that you've stuck around." His face was shadowed in the poorly lit hallway.

Korra relaxed into the large hand that warmed her shoulder. "Yeah." Impulse took over, and she craned her neck up to press her lips against Noatak's. Like his hand, they were soft and warm.

Fully realizing what she was doing, Korra jerked away. "I have to go."

She ran down the hallway, looking back at Noatak just once before turning the corner. Even in the dim light of the hall, she could see the whites of his eyes, widened in surprise.

* * *

_Naga's nails clicked and scratched against the tile floor of the hospital, the large animal straining against the leash that Tarrlok had her on. Even in the sterile environment, Naga seemed to be able to sense her master. Dr. Lin had frowned at Dr. Noatak from the doorway when he and Tarrlok had entered the hospital, but had made no objections._

_Dr. Noatak keyed in the code to Korra's door. He had hardly opened it when Naga barreled through ahead of him, almost knocking him to the floor. Korra was awake, staring off into space, but quickly jumped to attention upon seeing her dog._

_"Naga!" Korra shouted, jumping from the bed to embrace her. She stroked Naga's fur as the dog licked at her face, tail wagging frantically. "I've missed you!" She buried her face in the fur as she squeezed Naga tight. Dr. Noatak smiled at the sound of Korra's laughter as she was reunited with her most loyal friend._

_Tarrlok cleared his throat, unsure of what to do. Korra looked up at him and quickly stood._

_"Tarrlok." Korra's voice sounded strained as she looked at her godfather, whom she hadn't seen in over a year. She reached out and wrapped her arms around him. Her laughter had turned to tears as she hugged her godfather._

_"Korra, what's wrong?" Tarrlok asked. Korra let go of him and sat on the floor, stroking Naga._

_"You three are all I have left, aren't you?"_

_Tarrlok looked at Dr. Noatak, then back at Korra. "Yeah, but we're not going anywhere. We're here for you."_

_Korra glanced up at him. "Promise?"_

_"Promise."_


	9. End.

Korra arrived back at Air Temple Island in a state of confusion, fear, and excitement. The smile that tugged at the corners of her lips bewildered her: she had just kissed the man who had once been her greatest enemy, whose mask still lingered in the shadows of her nightmares. But she had come to separate the man and the mask. To her, they were no longer one and the same. The mask would forever be her foe, but the man, Noatak... he was more. He was exciting and exhilarating; he knew how to respond to her sarcastic quips with his own snarky replies. There was a feeling of adventure about him, as well as a sense of knowledge and experience. He was a being of reasonable maturity in Korra's world full of conflicted teenagers and reprimanding adults. He could teach her things about both her bending and herself that no one else could. Korra stopped fighting the smile and let it overcome her face as she snuck into her room through the window. She was thrilled.

She understood that incorporating Noatak into her life would be difficult, but for the first time in a while she felt the stress draining from her body. Everything was going to be okay. She curled up into her sheets, sinking into her pillows. She blinked up at the ceiling as sleep slowly overcame her. There wouldn't be any nightmares tonight. Everything would be okay.

* * *

_Dr. Noatak signed the last of the paperwork before sliding it over to Tarrlok to sign as well. That completed, he gathered the papers up and slid them into a manilla folder, which he handed to Dr. Lin._

_Dr. Lin, firmly grasping the folder, looked sternly at them. "Ready?" The brothers nodded. She led them down the familiar hospital hall, to the all-too-familiar door of Patient #1002. Dr. Lin knocked and waited for clearance from the woman within before keying in the code and opening the door._

_Dr. Noatak grinned at the sight of Korra, sitting on the bed in front of them. The jeans and shirt appeared very foreign on her, but he was glad to have guessed the correct sizes when he picked them out for her. She was playing with her necklace, which had belonged to her mother; it wasn't much - a black choker with a blue carved medallion - but Dr. Noatak had thought that it would be a comfort to her today as she left the room in which she had spent so many years. She might hate the hospital, but at least it was familiar to her. Her other hand absently clutched Mako, her plush shark that had previously been confiscated, now returned._

_Korra smiled at them. She straightened her legs out in front of her and wriggled her feet. "Look, shoelaces!"_

_Dr. Noatak chuckled and extended a hand to help her stand up. "Are you ready to go home?"_

_Korra grinned eagerly, her smile widening. "I know that I've missed a lot, being in here. And I know that it will still take a while before I'm completely stable, if I'm ever stable. And that it will take some work. But I'm not afraid of it, anymore." She looked at Dr. Noatak and Tarrlok. "When Mom and Dad died, I thought that I was completely alone in this world. Now, I know that's not the case. You two aren't my parents, and you can't replace them, but you are my family. And knowing that I'm not alone, and that I have the two of you, I know that I'll be just fine. Everything will be okay."_

_Dr. Lin patted Korra on the shoulder. "The paperwork's all in, and you're clear to be discharged into the care of your legal guardian, Tarrlok." She nodded at Tarrlok. "Dr. Noatak has all of your prescription information. Do you have any questions about leaving, Korra?"_

_Korra shook her head. "No." She reached out and wrapped her arms around Dr. Lin's chest, squeezing her in a tight hug. "Thank you, Dr. Lin."_

_A smile appeared on Dr. Lin's usually firm face, now soft. "We'll miss you, Korra."_

_Korra let go of Dr. Lin and beamed up at Dr. Noatak. "I'm ready." She took his hand in hers and swung it between them._

_"Let's go, then." He began to lead her through the door and down the hallway._

_Patient #5489 was screaming louder than usual, today, in a mixture of cries and cackles. "Goodbye, Azula!" Korra yelled through the door. Dr. Noatak could have sworn that he heard a series of spitting noises in response._

_Korra shielded her eyes upon exiting the building. Dr. Noatak noticed that she paused to take everything in._

_"Everything alright?"_

_Korra nodded. "Cars." She stared out at the busy street in front of the hospital._

_"What about cars?"_

_"It's been a while since I've seen a car. Or ridden in one. It's not something you think about when you're in there, but I'm suddenly realizing that it's been years since I've been in a car."_

_Dr. Noatak nodded, understanding. He led her across the crosswalk to the parking lot, Tarrlok close behind as he fumbled for the keys._

_"Now, we've only been in the house for a week, so everything's still a little boxed up. But there's a nice big yard for Naga to play in, and a bedroom for each of us."_

_Tarrlok began to mumble something about the shame of having to rent a house with his brother. Dr. Noatak sighed; at least the former senator had three job interviews lined up in the coming week. He also believed that having Korra around would help calm him down. Two grown men and their young-adult goddaughter weren't an ideal family, but it was better than being alone, Dr. Noatak decided. None of the three of them wished to be alone. Reaching the car, he opened the door to the backseat for Korra. "Ready to go home?" Korra's response was a wide grin as she slid in._

_..._

_Going to sleep that night, Dr. Noatak was content. He knew that he still had to work on not thinking of Korra as a patient anymore, and as a young woman in need of guidance. He also knew that it would take work for her to stop seeing him as her authoritative doctor. He wanted her to trust him as a friend, a mentor. It had taken years to convince Korra that this was the world she belonged in, and he could see it taking years to fully reconnect her with humanity. He was sure they could do it, though. Together. He smiled as sleep overcame him._

* * *

Noatak woke with a start, gasping for air. Something obscured his vision - water. Salt water filled and stung his eyes, and he flailed to clear it out. He sank into the water, accidentally breathing it in and sputtering it out when he came back to the surface. Where was he? His hands reached out, desperate for anything to latch onto that could help him float. He made contact with something - a floating seat cushion, ripped in half. He whipped his head to the left and right, seeing nothing but ocean to either side. He thought that he might have glimpsed a shore in the distance on the left, but the sun was too bright for him to be certain. He then realized that he felt pain, far beyond the stinging of the water in his eyes. His face burned, his side ached, his hands screamed. He looked down at his hands, and almost passed out in shock. The small finger on his left hand was missing, a bloody stub in its place. Only then did he notice that the water around him was dark with blood. It all rushed back at once - the boat, Tarrlok, the explosion. He momentarily considered that he might be dreaming right now, that he would soon wake up to get ready for work at the hospital, with Tarrlok watching Korra for the day. A severed hand floated by him, half black with burn marks. Noatak's body clenched up and he released a wail of anguish. He wasn't dreaming - the pain was too real. His revolution had failed, his brother was dead, and he was entirely alone.

**THE. END.**


End file.
